Looking at how the Patriots have distributed the ball in the passing game the last three seasons, it’s clear that New England has gone from an offense where the tight ends were ancillary parts of a much bigger whole to a system that has been dominated by young tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

In 2009, the Patriots’ tight ends had 43 catches on 60 targets, and finished with a combined 546 yards and seven touchdowns. This past season, it was 169 catches on 237 targets -- almost four times as many targets and catches -- to go along with a combined 169 catches, 2,237 yards and 24 receiving touchdowns.

“Prior to last year, we hadn’t had a lot of production out of the tight end position period in the passing game; some, but not to the degree that it’s come in the last two years,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick acknowledged Tuesday.

Targets have been compiled by the NFL since the start of the 2009 season, and while it remains an imperfect stat -- a badly thrown ball from a quarterback can often go against the record of the receiver as opposed to the quarterback -- it remains a good indication of the confidence level a passer might have in his pass catcher.

In 2009, the Patriots targeted tight ends Benjamin Watson and Chris Baker a combined 60 times, and the duo came away with 43 catches and 546 yards. (Baker finished with 14 catches on 19 targets, while Watson had 29 receptions on 41 targets.) Nice numbers, but certainly nowhere in the range of the rest of the skill position players -- that season, the wide receivers finished with 273 catches on 423 targets, while the running backs had 74 catches on 105 targets. In all, the tight ends were targeted on roughly one of every ten targets, as quarterback Tom Brady and the New England offense ended the season with 390 catches on 588 targets.

Things changed the following year. While both Gronkowski and Hernandez took some time to get acclimated in the system as rookies (Gronkowski had one catch in five of his first seven games), things really started to change down the stretch, particularly following the October decision to trade away Randy Moss and reacquire Deion Branch. Following those moves, the two young tight ends started to take on more responsibility in the passing game. The two combined for 38 catches in their last seven regular-season games, and they ended the year with a combined for 87 catches on 123 targets. (Gronkowski had 42 catches on 59 targets, while Hernandez finished with 45 catches on 64 targets.)

Combined with veteran Alge Crumpler, the tight ends had 93 catches on 134 targets in 2010, an increase of 50 receptions and 74 overall targets from the previous season.

While there were fewer targets to go around (the overall number dropped from 588 to 502), that year, the increased targets for the tight ends in the passing game would cut into the opportunities for the rest of the skill position players. The running backs went from 74 catches on 105 targets in 2009 to 61 catches on 86 targets in 2010. Likewise for the wide receivers, who went from 273 catches on 423 targets in 2009 to 177 catches on 282 targets in 2010.

This season has seen the full emergence of Gronkowski and Hernandez as two of the most proficient young tight ends in the game. They finished second and third in receptions and receiving yards, with Gronkowski going for 90 catches, 1,327 yards and 17 receiving touchdowns and Hernandez with 79 catches for 910 yards and seven touchdowns. It was the first time since Bill Belichick took over as head coach of the Patriots than New England had two tight ends in the Top 3 in catches and receiving yards.

Accordingly, their success was reflected in the amount of targets they received. Overall, the duo was targeted 237 times, and combined for 169 catches. Overall, they finished second to the wide receivers (196 catches on 309 targets), but far ahead of the running backs (37 catches on 58 targets). On the 2011 team, Gronkowski had the highest target percentage of any receiver who was targeted at least 10 times – his 90 catches on 124 targets was 73 percent. (Wes Welker was just behind him with 122 catches on 172 targets for 71 percent, while Hernandez followed Welker with 79 catches on 113 targets, or 70 percent.)

Belichick said Tuesday the duo, now poised to make their second trip to the postseason in as many years, continue to push each other.

“I think there’s good competition there. I think both those guys are great competitors. They want to do well. I’m sure they learn from each other; I know they do,” Belichick said of the duo. “I think there’s a lot of mutual respect there. Certainly both players have performed well doing some of the same things, doing some different things. That part of it is good. They push each other, but in a good way, in a very positive way. They both had high levels of production.”